Cannabis grower's habit started at just 13
A CANNABIS smoker whose habit started at the age of 13 grew his own crop worth thousands of pounds at the family home.
A CANNABIS smoker whose habit started at the age of 13 grew his own crop worth thousands of pounds at the family home.
Adam Smith transformed his loft into a growing room to provide the drug for his personal use, Nottingham Crown Court heard.
He bought 30 plants and even bypassed the electricity supply to avoid running up an expensive bill for powering the lighting units needed to grow his crop.
But Smith's plan went up in smoke when police found the plants last August at the home he shared with his partner and children.
The plants had been placed inside a loft kitted with time switches, to control the lighting and a heavy-duty ventilation system.
A drugs expert estimated the cannabis was worth £15,000 and would have yielded 1.6 kilograms from the 30-plant crop.
In court, Smith, 26, of Selley Close, Hucknall, pleaded guilty to producing cannabis.
He claimed that the cannabis was for his own use, there was no evidence of a previous grow at the address and it was his first attempt at growing cannabis.
He was "gobsmacked" when told the predicted value of the crop and accepted the possibility he may have given the surplus to friends.
But Judge Michael Stokes QC told him: "This was, in truth, a small but commercial grow of cannabis."
Smith had been using an eighth of an ounce of cannabis a day, which had been costing him a substantial amount of money.
The judge said: "He has given evidence that he decided to save money by establishing his own grow."
He had previous convictions for offences of violence or threatening violence.
And in 2010, Smith received an 18-week prison sentence, suspended for two years.
The judge said the court had the power to bring that sentence into operation, which he will consider when Smith is sentenced on August 6.
http://www.thisisnottingham.co.uk 16/07/2012
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